Software upgrades and image signing
The Software Upgrade page of the management console enables you to perform these software management activities:
• Enable and disable software image signing.
• View current and backup software versions.
• Switch from the currently running software version to the backup software version.
• Install a new software version.
• Schedule a software upgrade.
• View a history of previously installed software versions.
For Controller appliances, such as the Client Accelerator Controller and SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead, upgrading may update some policies. After the upgrade is complete, the optimization service on managed devices may automatically restart.
For most products, the Software Upgrade page is in the Administration section of the Management Console.
About software image signing certificates
Riverbed software images are now digitally signed, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of the image. Verifying an image is performed by comparing a public key, or image signing certificate, with the image signature. For details, including a copy of the public key and intermediate certificate, go to Knowledge Base article
S33657.
Image verification is enabled by default. We strongly recommend that it remain enabled at all times. Disable this feature only when absolutely necessary.
The feature requires a public key in a certificate to verify the digital signature of the software image. The certificate is automatically installed on the appliance, but you can import an updated version, if needed. During the verification process, the appliance compares the signature in the image with the Riverbed public certificate. If they match, the installation continues. If not, the system alerts you to a potential problem. As long as image signature verification is enabled, you cannot continue with an installation that cannot verify the image signature.
Importing image signing certificates
1. Display the Software Upgrade page.
2. Under Image Signature Verification, select Image Signature Verification.
If you clear the Image Signing Verification check box, you disable this feature and a warning message appears indicating images will not be verified.
3. Expand the Image Signing Certificate section, and then ensure the appliance has a valid certificate.
You can use the certificate that is installed by default, or you can select the Import tab to replace an expired or revoked certificate. You can upload a PKCS #12, PEM, or DER format certificate or copy and paste a PEM certificate.
4. Click Import Image Signing Certificate to add the certificate to this appliance.
You can only use one certificate. The certificate information appears in the Details tab.
5. Click Apply.
6. Click Save to Disk to save your settings permanently.
About software upgrades
To find allowed upgrades between software versions and recommended upgrade paths, use the software upgrade tool for your product on the Riverbed Support site. The tool includes all of the recommended intermediate versions.
Software images can be quite large; uploading the image to the appliance and installing it can take a few minutes. As the upgrade progresses, status messages appear.
After the installation is complete, the system reminds you to reboot the appliance to switch to the new version of the software. The appliance can take a few minutes to reboot. This behavior is normal because the software is configuring the recovery flash device.
Do not press Ctrl+C, unplug, or otherwise shut down the system during this first boot. The system configures the recovery flash device at this time, and may not display a message informing you of this.
After the upgrade is complete, the Dashboard, Software Upgrade, and Help pages of the Management Console display the new software version.
You can use any of the methods described in the following sections to upload and install software upgrade packages.
Using an image located on the network
To use a remote image located on your network, select this option and specify the URL. Any of these URL formats are valid:
• http://host/path/to/file
• https://host/path/to/file
• ftp://user:password@host/path/to/file
• scp://user:password@host/path/to/file
Using an image located on the Riverbed Support site
Select this option to download an image directly from the Riverbed Support site to the appliance.
Select the target release number from the drop-down list. The system uploads and installs the new image immediately after you click Install.
To upload and install the image later, schedule another date or time before you click Install.
Using an image located on the local system
Select this option and specify the path to the image file, or click Browse to open a file browser.
1. Optionally, download the software image from the Support site.
2. In the product’s management console, display the Software Upgrade page.
On most products, the upgrade page is under the Administration section.
3. Under Install Upgrade, select an upgrade method.
4. Optionally, schedule the upgrade for a later time.
5. Click Install.
Remember, you’ll need to reboot the product after the installation completes. To do that, choose Administration > Maintenance: Reboot/Shutdown, and then click Reboot.
Switching to the backup software version
1. Display the Software Upgrade page.
2. Under Software Upgrade, do one of these actions:
– Click Switch to Backup Version to switch to the backup version on the next reboot.
– Click Cancel to Cancels the software version switch on the next reboot.